Thursday, September 19, 2013

Every year, 200 million people travel – often long distances - to sacred
sites around the world to honour their faith. To name just a few: India’s
Golden Temple, central to the Sikh religion, the French town of Lourdes, where
Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary’s ascent to heaven, Rumi’s tomb in Turkey,
the Bodhi Tree, which Buddhists believe is where Siddharta Gautama meditated
for 49 days before achieving enlightenment, Peru’s Machu Picchu, and the waters
of the Ganges River in India, which are said to represent life and to cleanse
those who bathe in them of their sins.
It is considered the duty of every able-bodied Muslim to make the journey to
Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, at least once in their lifetime. And of course,
there is El Camino de Santiago, a Christian pilgrimage across Spain to the
burial site of the apostle St James, popularised in The Way, starring Emilio
Estevez, where each character shared a different reason for walking, including
weight loss, overcoming writer’s block, and honouring a dead son.
Pilgrimage has been going on since the beginning of time: it is one of the
most common human experiences, and also one that is becoming increasingly
popular, even in these secular times. Why? Phil Cousineau, author of The Art of
Pilgrimage, says, “The difference between pilgrim and tourist is the intention
of attention, the quality of curiosity.” A pilgrimage is about a search for
meaning, for authentic connection, self-knowledge, and growth, and it is often
triggered by a ‘wake-up call’, such as being fired or a divorce.
And it doesn’t necessarily mean lacing up your hiking boots and setting off
on a 1,000-kilometre trek. A private and personal journey to the truth of one’s
soul can take many forms – perhaps a silent retreat, or a journey to a
childhood home. Cousineau adds, “In each of us dwells a pilgrim. It is the part
of us that longs to have direct contact with the sacred. Your practice is your
path. It is simply the way of seeing, the way of hearing, the way of touching,
the way of walking, the way of being, with humility.”